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UPDATED REVIEW - March 6, 2012 - Recommended - This model is out of stock according to the Samick-Kohler company, but there may be alternatives if you contact me.
I recommend the Kohler KD7 digital baby grand PLAYER piano at its lower price (see price info below). This model is a limited edition piano and is only available in the US as far as I know. I played this full size 5' deep digital baby grand about five years ago when it first came out and just recently again and was quite impressed with it...except for its original higher discount price at almost $8000. Since then I recently found out the Kohler company has decided to reissue this piano in limited quantities with new player technology updates at a much lower discount price. The KD7 should be selling at discount price for about $5500 (depending on the store)in selected US piano stores and is available in a limited polished ebony finish. The mahogany finish you see in these pictures is no longer available. This new lower price makes this piano very competitive in the digital grand piano market, especially because it has a real, live high quality player piano "moving key" system built into it and it is a full 5' deep authentic baby grand cabinet. Other digital baby grand cabinets are usually no more than 4'1" deep and are hybrids and not real acoustic baby grand cases like the Kohler is, which makes it very impressive to look at! The Kohler KD7 piano is built by the Samick piano company, a well known acoustic piano manufacturer out of South Korea who has built and sold acoustic pianos throughout the world for over 50 years. Their US headquarters is based out of Nashville, TN and the Kohler piano brand is over 100 years old and is owned entirely by Samick.
The KD7 digital baby grand player piano is a very unique instrument because it incorporated a combination of things that no other piano company was doing. First of all, the 30 higher quality digital instrument sounds (including a good selection of impressive acoustic pianos, electric pianos, organs, strings, choir, and other sounds) were all produced by the famous Korg pro keyboard company which is well known for their very high quality instrument sounds used in their pro keyboards. That means the sounds all come from Korg (which is a good thing) as opposed to coming from the Samick company or a no name brand who are not known in the past for producing good digital instrument sounds. The sound control buttons to activate the 30 instruments are located on the left side of the keyboard and the piano volume and tone controls are on the right side of the keyboard. They are simple & easy to use as well as being "minimalistic" in design so they blend in fairly well on the piano cabinet.
The player piano "moving key" mechanism which moves the keys up & down along with its front control system was designed and produced by the PianoForce player system company which is manufactured in Europe and has been installed on many famous acoustic grand pianos including Kawai, Baldwin, Yamaha, Samick, Shimmel, Steinway, and others. PianoForce is a leader in "moving key" player piano technology also utilizing advanced remote control systems including iPod, internet streaming radio, takes a USB flash drive to load in wav, MP3, and MIDI files, has 75 full length internal player piano songs as well as player piano CD playback system including full orchestrations, vocal/voice playback and concert piano playback (WOW). The control box is a newer slimline, low profile system which blends in nicely and unobtrusively on the underside of the piano. The operating software in the player system also has been newly updated with even more features than before. The player system also includes the ability to record a one track personal performance on the piano and play it back. Normally that would not be a big deal as compared to many other digital pianos. However, the big difference is that the Kohler KD7 can also play back your performance using the moving key player system. In other words, you can see your song with the keys you played going up & down on the playback of your recording. That kind of feature is normally an upgraded option on many player systems and is included in this Kohler KD7.
The keyboard action movement is a full size individually weighted and graduated grand piano hammer key action (as opposed to an upright key action) with the escapement/let-off mechanism found in acoustic grand pianos (a very nice thing to have). It's a solid and fairly quiet key mechanism, and when you play it manually just as a grand piano, it feels very realistic. In fact, it's enjoyable playing pure piano music on it when you are not using the automatic player piano mechanism. And the other sounds that you can play are also very cool and you can even combine 2 sounds at one time. Unlike a traditional acoustic piano, there is also a variable volume control over the sound whether playing it manually or using the player. This is great when you want to hear or play it but don't want it to be loud. In fact, you can make it almost whisper quiet. And when you want to practice in privacy, you can plug in a pair of headphones and then no one will hear you play it...great for practicing your lessons or just playing for fun when other stuff is going on in the same house or room.
The 5' deep (from front to back) baby grand piano furniture cabinet is an authentic acoustic baby grand cabinet built by the Samick piano company in its acoustic grand piano factory. That's very impressive to me because all of the other small digital baby grand furniture style cabinets are not authentic baby grand cabinets. They are actually smaller hybrid cabinets made to simulate the look of a small baby grand, but in reality they are not actual baby grand cabinets as far as build quality, size, weight, and construction. The Kohler KD7 is obviously much better in that regard. It has a full size pedal assembly, full size thick piano legs, a full size dual level lid, and a full size grand key cover. The cabinet also incorporates a higher quality Sitka spruce soundboard (found in regular acoustic grand pianos giving a more organic natural sound disbursement) with a built-in huge sounding speaker system which includes one 10" subwoofer, 5 additional speakers of different sizes, and three separate amplifiers totaling a whopping 360 watts of power! What that translates to is a big, full, rich tone with deep bass, good clarity in the middle, and clean high notes without sounding too brassy. The speakers are built right into the sound board and blend in very nicely and seamlessly.
KD7 polished ebony
The 3 pedals on the piano works similar a real acoustic piano with soft, sostenuto, and damper/sustain with half-pedal recognition. Everything seems to be there for a good piano playing experience including never having to tune this piano because all the sounds are produced digitally without acoustic strings. The downsides to this piano is that it only has 60 notes of polyphony, no USB direct output to computer or iPad, and is somewhat basic otherwise. With regard to polyphony, that means how many notes can be played or heard at one time if you played all 88-keys at one time. A person only has 10 fingers to play 10 keys maximum so why would you need more than 10 notes of polyphony to cover that? The answer is that when you play arpeggios, glissando's, or more complex chord arrangements along with using the damper sustain pedal (the right pedal), then you can play and hear many more notes sustaining together at the same time, and 60 notes will normally more than cover that type of complex playing. Generally speaking, 60 notes of polyphony will not likely be an issue unless you are layering two instrument sounds together at the same time and playing more complex chord arrangements with pedaling. The player piano system itself plays piano music very well with 60 notes of polyphony as you can hear and see in the YouTube demos below. Most of the other digital baby grands in this price range or less money generally have no more than 64 notes of polyphony, so the Kohler at 60 notes is about the same in that regard.
Player system & remote
As far the the player piano moving key system goes, if you were to own a regular acoustic grand piano and get a PianoForce player system installed on it just as this Kohler baby grand has, the player system (including the physical parts installed inside the piano) with installation could easily cost you around $4000 - $4500 (give or take). And that does not include the cost of the piano or any digital electronics in the piano such as the instrument sounds. Taking that into consideration in my opinion shows just how good of a deal this piano is right now. And having the digital electronics in place of a regular acoustic stringed piano means you'll never need to tune it which will save you hundreds, if not a thousand dollars or more over the life of the piano. That is a very big savings and one of the reasons I like digital pianos. And the remote control unit that comes along with the KD7 has all the buttons and features you'll need to control the piano from a distance without having to touch the piano itself...pretty cool.
If you are wanting a digital piano that has lots of digital features such as drum rhythms, accompaniment chords, big LCD screens, hundreds of instrument sounds, twin piano, etc, etc, then this piano will not be for you. However, if you want what this piano can provide based on what you have read here on my review, then the price is definitely worth it in my opinion.
An alternative to the KD7 digital piano would be an actual full size acoustic grand piano with the player system already built in. There is no doubt that a real acoustic grand piano will sound much better than a digital grand piano as far as pure piano sound and key action goes. This is because the organic nature of a real piano is still not easily reproduced in a digital grand piano. So if you don't mind not having the digital features, but you want a great piano playing experience for both manual play and player piano moving keys, then you should check out a real acoustic player piano. The one I suggest in a lower price range (they are more money than digital pianos like this) is the new Stahler Player Grand Piano. Go to the following link to read my review of this impressive instrument: Stahler Player Grand Piano
If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864
Kohler KD7 video demos below:
Famous TV show theme song - with live grand piano and full orchestral CD accompaniment...
Classical Piano demonstration - Live Player Grand Piano
Famous TV show theme song Player Piano demo
DIGITAL PIANOS ARE TAKING OVER ACOUSTIC PIANO SALES! Digital upright and grand pianos have become a "mainstream" piano purchase for families over the last 5-10 years and the numbers of digital piano sales keep growing. Piano manufacturers are producing digital pianos that are not only attractive to look at, but have piano tone and key action that are coming closer & closer every year to replicating regular acoustic pianos. If that's the case, then why would a person want to own a regular acoustic piano? The simple answer is...for the most part, they wouldn't. There are still many piano teachers and people in general who believe an acoustic piano is a better permanent choice as a piano to own over a long period of time. But that point of view depends on the student and player. Most people play recreational and students rarely get past the intermediate skill level so the need for an acoustic piano is becoming less and less. That's one of the reasons there are so many used acoustic pianos for sale at relatively low prices through classified ads, CraigsList ads, eBay, piano stores, and other places.
It is true that there are certain kinds of piano music that demands specialized piano playing on pianos that can perform those pieces properly. And in those cases a good acoustic upright or grand piano would be a better option. But as digital piano technology continues to move forward with big improvements in piano tone, key action movement, dynamic response, articulation, and overall duplication of acoustic piano nuances, there will be little need for acoustic pianos in the future unless you are a music/piano major in college, a musician who is more comfortable playing on acoustic pianos, or a piano teacher who has not given up on acoustic pianos yet.
Digital pianos have so many cool features now including never needing tuning (that will save you a huge amount of money over time), easier to move, a variety of great instrument sounds, drum rhythms, built-in piano lessons, USB outputs to iPad and laptop computers for piano training, music writing, and so much more. You can create lush arrangements with multi-track recording as well as create MP3 and WAV file audio recordings of your playing directly on the digital piano. And when you don't want anyone else to hear you practice or play, you simply plug in a set of stereo headphones and all is quiet...and you definitely cannot do that on a regular acoustic piano.
So all in all, digital pianos are taking over acoustic piano territory and as the digital pianos continue to improve over the years, acoustic pianos will (for the most part) become a thing of the past. This may not happen completely in your lifetime or mine, but it will happen just as the computer has replaced the typewriter, the flat screen TV replaced the tube TV, the iPad is starting to replace the laptop, and the cell phone is replacing the landline. Everything continues to change and there's no way to stop it, which may or may not be good depending on your point of view.
Although I love to play acoustic pianos such as Steinway, Bosendorfer, Yamaha, Kawai, Samick, Young Chang, and many others, when it comes to digital pianos, I am a big proponent of them. If you would like to know more about digital pianos and the best ones to own for different price ranges and musical needs then you should contact me personally.
If you want more info on pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864
UPDATED REVIEW - March 5, 2013 - I recommend the Kohler KD7 digital baby grand player piano however, this piano is now out of stock according to the manufacturer and will not be available in the foreseeable future. If you contact me I can suggest an alternative.
I recommend the Kohler KD7 digital baby grand player piano (left pic in polished ebony with matching grand bench) at its new lower price (see price info below). This model is a limited edition piano and is only available in the US as far as I know. I played this full size 5' digital baby grand about five years ago when it first came out and just recently again and was quite impressed with it...except for its original high discount price at almost $8000. Since then I recently found out the Kohler company has decided to reissue this piano in limited quantities at a much lower discount price. The discount price will be approx $5500-$6000 (depending on the store)and is available in very limited numbers of polished ebony.
This new lower price makes the KD7 quite competitive in the digital
grand piano market, particularly because it has a real, live high quality
player piano "moving key" system built into it and it is a full 5' deep
authentic baby grand cabinet. Other digital baby grand cabinets I have seen are
usually no more than 4'1" deep and are hybrids and not real acoustic
baby grand cases like the Kohler is, which makes this piano very impressive to look at. The Kohler KD7 piano is built by the Samick piano company, a well known acoustic piano manufacturer out of South Korea who has built and sold acoustic pianos throughout the world for over 50 years. Their US headquarters is based out of Nashville, TN and the Kohler piano brand is over 100 years old and is owned entirely by Samick.
The KD7 digital baby grand player piano is a very unique instrument because it incorporated a combination of things that no other piano company was doing. First of all, the 30 quality digital instrument sounds (including a good selection of impressive acoustic pianos, electric pianos, organs, strings, choir, and other sounds) were all produced by the famous Korg pro keyboard company which is well known for their very high quality instrument sounds used in their pro keyboards. That means the sounds all come from Korg (which is a good thing) as opposed to coming from the Samick company or a no name brand who are not known in the past for producing good digital instrument sounds. The sound control buttons to activate the 30 instruments are located on the left side of the keyboard and the piano volume and tone controls are on the right side of the keyboard. They are simple & easy to use as well as being "minimalistic" in design so they blend in fairly well on the piano cabinet.
KD7 player remote control
The player piano "moving key" mechanism & control box system was designed and produced by the PianoForce company which is manufactured in Europe. This system has also been installed on many other acoustic grand pianos including Kawai, Baldwin, Yamaha, Samick, Steinway, and others. PianoForce is a leader in "moving key" player piano technology (left pic - internal solenoid system) and their system can also take a USB flash drive to load in wav, MP3, and MIDI files, has full length internal player piano songs. The CD playback system can play various CD player disk libraries including full orchestrations, vocal/voice playback and concert piano playback (wow). The pre-installed control box is a newer slimline, low profile system which blends in nicely and unobtrusively on the left underside of the piano. The operating software in the player system also has been newly updated and includes a full featured remote control (upper left pic) that allows full operation of the player piano including volume, tone, speed, recording, balance, and other useful features of the player system. The player system also includes the ability to record your own personal performance on the piano and then play it back with the keys moving up & down...very cool! In other words, you can see the keys you played going up & down on the playback of your recording. Recording a performance is a common feature found on nearly all digital pianos but certainly not with the keys physically moving up & down on playback.
Kohler KD7 with lid halfway
The keyboard action movement is a full size individually weighted and graduated piano hammer key action (as opposed to an upright key action) with the escapement/let-off mechanism found in acoustic grand pianos (a very nice thing to have). It's a solid and fairly quiet key mechanism and when you play it manually it feels good. The other instrument sounds you can play are also very good and you can even combine 2 sounds at one time. Unlike a traditional acoustic piano, there is also a variable volume control over the sound whether playing it manually or using the player. This is great when you want to hear or play it but don't want it to be loud. When you want to practice in privacy, you can plug in a pair of headphones and then no one will hear you play it...great for practicing your lessons or just playing for fun when other stuff is going on in the same house or room.
The 5' deep (from front to back) baby grand piano furniture cabinet is an authentic acoustic baby grand cabinet built by the Samick piano company in its acoustic grand piano factory. It has a full size pedal assembly, full size thick piano legs, a full size dual level lid, and a full size grand (soft close) key cover. The cabinet also incorporates a higher quality Sitka spruce soundboard (for an organic natural sound disbursement) with a built-in huge sounding speaker system which includes one 10" subwoofer, 5 additional speakers of different sizes, and three separate amplifiers totaling a whopping 360 watts of power. What that translates to is a big, full, rich tone with deep bass, good clarity in the middle, and clean high notes without sounding too brassy. The speakers are built right into the sound board and blend in very nicely and seamlessly. I was very impressed.
KD7 with closed key cover
The 3 pedals on the piano works just like a real acoustic piano with soft, sostenuto, and damper/sustain with half-pedal recognition. So everything is there for a good piano playing experience including never having to tune this piano because all the sounds are produced digitally without acoustic strings. The downsides to this piano is that it only has 60 notes of polyphony,
no USB direct output to computer or iPad, and is somewhat basic
otherwise. With regard to polyphony, that means how many notes can be
played or heard at one time if you played all 88-keys at one time. A
person only has 10 fingers to play 10 keys maximum so why would you need
more than 10 notes of polyphony to cover that? The answer is that when
you play arpeggios, glissando's, or more complex chord arrangements
along with using the damper sustain pedal (the right pedal), then you
can play and hear many more notes sustaining together at the same time,
and 60 notes will normally more than cover that type of complex playing.
Generally speaking, 60 notes of polyphony will not likely be an issue
unless you are layering two instrument sounds together at the
same time and playing more complex chord arrangements with pedaling. The
player piano system itself plays piano music very well with 60 notes of
polyphony as you can hear and see in the YouTube demos below. Most of
the other digital baby grands in this price range or less money
generally have no more than 64 notes of polyphony, so the Kohler at 60
notes is about the same in that regard.
As far as the player piano moving key system goes, if you were to own a regular acoustic grand piano and get a PianoForce player system installed on it just as this Kohler baby grand has, the player system and installation alone could easily cost around $4000 - $4500 (give or take). And that does not include the cost of the piano or any digital electronics. Taking that into consideration shows just how good of a deal this piano is at its new price in my opinion. And having the digital electronics in place of regular acoustic piano strings means you'll never need to tune this piano which will save you hundreds, if not a thousand dollars or more over the life of the piano. That is a very big savings and one of the reasons I like digital pianos.
Kohler Piano KD7
If you are wanting a digital piano which has lots of digital features such as drum rhythms, accompaniment chords, big LCD screens, hundreds of instrument sounds, twin piano, etc, etc, then this piano will not be for you. However, if you want what this piano can provide based on what you have read here on my review, then the price is definitely worth it in my opinion and just the 5' deep full size authentic grand piano cabinet alone is nearly worth the price of admission.
Stahler Player Grand
A
beautiful alternative to the KD7 digital piano would be an actual full size
acoustic grand piano with the player system already built in. There is
no doubt that a real acoustic grand piano will sound much better than a
digital grand piano as far as pure piano sound and key action goes. This
is because the organic nature of a real piano is still not easily
reproduced in a digital grand piano. So if you don't mind not having the
digital features, but you want a great piano playing experience for
both manual play and player piano moving keys, then you should check out
a real acoustic player piano. The one I suggest in a lower price range
(they are more money than digital pianos like this) is the new Stahler
Player Grand Piano. Go to the following link to read my review of this
impressive instrument: Stahler Player Grand Piano
If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864
Kohler KD7 video demos below:
Peter Gunn TV show theme song - with live grand piano and full orchestral CD accompaniment...please note the mahogany piano color in the videos is no longer available
Classical Piano demonstration - Live Grand Piano
Andy Griffith TV Theme Song Player Piano demo
UPDATED REVIEW - November 28, 2012 - I DO NOT recommend the Adagio MGDP8820 Baby Grand Piano. Many of the digital grands look good on the outside,
but it's what's inside that really counts. This includes
actual cabinet construction, the type of finish applied to the exterior,
how the key action moves and feels, the dynamics and response of the
piano sound, and the overall sounds and other digital features of the
instrument.
Adagio MGDP8820
There are basically two price categories of digital Baby
Grands; under $3000 and over $3000. I have so far not found a new digital grand piano advertised for under $3000 that is
worth owning and this would include the Adagio MGDP8820
4'1" digital baby grand. The MGDP8820 ($2499 store/Costco discount price) is the identical piano to the GDP8820 model found on the Adagio web site, only the MGDP model is sold (as far as I know) only by Costco in the US, but the specifications are identical. The Adagio pianos are
distributed by the Kaysound company located in Canada and the pianos are
made in China. The Kaysound company does not make pianos and the Adagio
name is a made-up name put on these pianos as is true with a few other brands. Adagio pianos in various model names are primarily
sold through Costco & Sam's Club as well as a couple of other
on-line stores.
The Adagio MGDP8820 is really a baby grand piano shaped
version of the Adagio KDP8826 small upright digital piano ($999 at
Costco) which I have reviewed in an earlier blog Adagio KDP8826 Review.
Unfortunately at this point, I have not played or heard an Adagio piano that I liked.
In fact, these pianos have such poor key actions and poor piano response
dynamics & expression that I advise people to stay away from them
if they want a satisfying piano playing and/or learning experience. I have seen some "positive customer reviews" on a few Adagio models and it perplexes me that people really think they are having a satisfying piano playing experience with this brand. But I guess the old saying must be true..."what you don't don't won't hurt you." Well at least maybe you won't know what the deficiencies really are if you haven't had much experience with real acoustic pianos. And if you like what you are getting out of it, then that's fine because playing music is always a personal thing. But...if you are buying it for children or adults who will be or are taking piano lessons or are playing recreationally, then I would advise considering another brand that can provide a better piano practice and playing experience.
Although the cabinets on these pianos may be very attractive to look at (and they are), and
some of the digital/electronic functions may seem cool, the inside electronics & key action of this piano is definitely not something I recommend at any price. Also, there are 2 acoustic piano sounds on this model which are called
Grand piano & Bright piano. When playing on a regular piano as
well as any name brand digital piano in this price range, the piano
sound is supposed to change not only in volume (louder/softer) as you
press the key harder or easier, but the tone itself is supposed to
change in character with changes in brightness and mellowness as well as
various overtones and nuances in the sound. Those are just a few
details that make a piano sound good and is referred to as "dynamic
range." The Adagio has just one piano dynamic or sound no matter how hard or soft
you press the key. It does change volume from soft to loud, but it has no
changes in tonality or dynamic range. In other words, the piano sound
(either Grand or Bright piano) is the same all the time on any style of
music using any dynamics. This is not a good thing and not the way
acoustic pianos behave.
There are five levels of touch
sensitivity that you can change and set on this piano, but this feature has to do with
different levels of volume response as you play the keys, and not with
dynamic range or changes in tone. Touch sensitivity levels are there in
case you normally play the keys too hard or too soft and you want to
have a different level of volume for your particular touch. This feature
is very common in digital pianos. Also, the piano sound itself on this
piano is quite choppy as you play a song using single notes and chords
(multiple notes) and has more of a staccato (shorter) sound as opposed
to smooth and legato (longer), even when using the sustain damper pedal.
The pedal sustain does allow for half-pedaling "gradual sustain," but
this does little to alleviate the somewhat choppy sound that normally
occurs when playing a song, especially when trying to play lightly or
softly. The mark of a good piano is how the dynamics and sound responds
when playing delicately and/or quietly, not just loud or harder. The
Adagio does not pass the test at all in that way, and my test is fairly
easy to pass.
The piano key movement on the Adagio
pianos are definitely weighted more like a regular acoustic piano, so
that is good and most people think this alone is what makes for a good
playing experience. However, the key action movement is quite noisy and
clunky, especially in the upper and lower part of the keyboard. This is
particularly distracting when playing the piano at low volumes or using
headphones. The key movement noise when the keys hit bottom or come back
up can easily be heard throughout the room or house and is very
annoying. It's like there isn't enough felt cushion under the keys to
dampen the sound of the keys going up and down. When you play the piano
at louder volumes this situation isn't as noticeable, but you shouldn't
have to do that just to cover up that annoying key noise which most
other good digital pianos don't have. Perhaps my ears are more sensitive
than others, but I doubt it. If you have little experience with good
digital or acoustic pianos, you may not notice this at first on the
Adagio, but after awhile, you probably will.
This
Adagio piano can be fun to play using the drum patterns and chord
backgrounds but most people buying these pianos do not use those
features very often. The piano is able to layer and split
instrument sounds together which is good, and this is more more than
some other pianos can do in this price range. However when it comes to trying to replicate an acoustic piano playing experience, you can do much better on other lower priced small digital grand or upright pianos such as Yamaha or Samick. Although the lower price of the Adagio can be "music to one's ears," the playing of the piano may have some sour notes (in my opinion) so keep that in mind when making your decision. If you are looking for a "showpiece" in your home, the Adagio definitely qualifies for that. But hopefully you are getting the piano to play music on and to have a satisfying acoustic piano playing and listening experience and in my opinion, that should be the main reason to buy any piano like this.
Go to the following links below to read about other digital baby grands that I recommend. My personal favorite for under $3000 is the Kohler KD5 5' digital baby grand (left pic - also comes in polished ebony). When you see this piano on my blog review especially for its lower price, then you'll see what I mean.
If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet or store discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864
UPDATED REVIEW -February 12, 2013 - CASIO AP420 & AP220 are now DISCONTINUED! - However, Casio America has just introduced the brand new 2013 model PX750 & PX850 digital pianos for the same pricing as the old AP220/420 (see more info at the bottom of this page) These new models are a huge upgrade over the 220 & 420 in terms of piano key action movement, the keys themselves (brand new synthetic ivory & ebony key tops), the quality, response & expression of piano sound, and the internal speaker systems. The new compact cabinets (PX750 available in satin black, brown, and white and the PX850 available in satin black only) are also an improvement in my opinion (although cabinet design is somewhat subjective). In other words, I would not recommend the AP220 and AP420 at this point because the new PX750 & 850 do outperform them in every way:).
Discontinued (no longer made) - Previous AP420 & 220 REVIEW: A limited production satin black version of their lower priced brown AP420 ($1099 internet discount price - left pic) & AP220 ($799 internet discount price - lower left pic) Celviano pianos. Casio is still producing a medium brown color AP420 & 220, but many people have asked for a satin black color and now they're available for a limited time at the same prices according to Casio.
AP220 black
If you don't think you need a lot of "bells and whistles" but just want a good sounding piano with a fairly good piano key touch, then either of these two models would be a good choice. And in my
opinion, Casio has some distinct advantages as far as the features
on the AP420 & AP220 pianos over other competitive brands like Yamaha and others such as the AP420 has a SD card input so you can play and record your MIDI music
directly into the card for storage to be played back later (although MIDI is quite limited as compared to audio recording). You can also download piano MIDI song files from your computer to the card for "play-along practice."
On both pianos you can connect to a computer
from the USB 2.0 core MIDI port for instant plug & play with interactive
computer software and even connecting to the latest Apple iPad apps (left pics)...very
cool and I can tell you more if you contact me.
I have previously reviewed the Casio AP420 Celviano piano along with the Yamaha YDP141 and Yamaha YDP161
which you can read on my blog. I do believe the AP420 & AP220 in the satin black color would look nice in a person's home or studio and either one would be a good piano for the price. I've played these pianos I don't think you can go wrong,
especially at such an affordable price.
I have written some detailed blog reviews of the new 2013 model Casio PX750 & PX850 (which are available now) so please click on the the links below to find out more about these impressive pianos:)
If you want more info on these and other pianos and lower prices than internet discounts, please email me at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call me direct at 602-571-1864
UPDATED REVIEW - March 6, 2012 - Recommended - This model is out of stock according to the Samick-Kohler company, but there may be alternatives if you contact me. 
